The changing MSP market - and how UC can put you ahead

Hope Davo | June 18, 2015

At every turn, businesses of all kinds are looking to mobile solutions. From the proliferation of mobile devices in organizational networks to the widespread emergence of BYOD policies at enterprises of every type and size, the deployment of enterprise technology is booming.

As a TechRadar article pointed out, the push toward enterprise adoption of mobility is largely being led not by businesses themselves, but by employees. Simply put, workers these days count mobile solutions as an integral part of their daily lives - and they expect to see this need for mobility met in the workplace. The typical staff member these days will not only own a tablet or smartphone - he or she will expect to use this device at work as well. Therefore, companies whose network architecture doesn't allow for BYOD and remote work become unappealing to prospective applicants. The businesses that want the strongest workers must accommodate their need for mobility.

When it comes to incorporating mobile solutions into an existing company network, many organizations find this daunting. And so they start looking for outside support. This has led to large growth in the managed services provider market - and MSP sector momentum isn't set to slow down soon. By 2019, the MSP market is projected to reach more than $193 billion, according to MarketsandMarkets. That's an increase of almost $90 billion from 2014. The near doubling of a market in the span of five years should be indication enough of MSP's status as a thriving sector.

The growth of enterprise mobility has boosted the MSP market - but also heightened competition.

Bigger field, tougher competition The growth of the MSP market should be 100 percent great news for all the MSPs out there, right? Yes, and for the most part it is - but there's one caveat. Now that the market is growing, so is the competition. What this means is that the MSPs that don't evolve with the times risk getting left in the dust. As the MSP sector grows at an expected CAGR of 12.5 percent, it's time for MSPs to evaluate their business and see what they need to improve upon. As far as this goes, there's one thing that every MSP needs to add to its product stable: unified communications.

When prospective enterprise users evaluate an MSP these days, they're looking for a provider that meets all of their tech needs, including mobility and remote work. If business leaders vetting an MSP see that the provider only offers legacy solutions, they'll turn to another option that provides more cutting-edge packages. After all, enterprises turn to MSPs because they want to bring their IT resources to a higher level. If an MSP can only promise middle-of-the-road service that's not up with the times, why would any prospect settle for that? To be competitive in the market today, MSPs need to offer industry-leading solutions like UC.

About the author: As Fonality’s Director of Channel Marketing, Hope enjoys building marketing and sales support programs to drive partner success. She loves working with Fonality partners to help them delight their customers and earn lots of revenue. In her spare time, she gets in as much time in as possible with her two kiddos and husband – which means lots of running around. She’s been running around Fonality in several marketing roles since 2012.